(CNN) -- Lawmakers in Belgium on Thursday approved a ban on the wearing of burqas and other Islamic garb that covers a woman's face but the bill must still be approved by the upper house of parliament before it becomes law.

If the Senate approves it, Belgium would become the first country in Europe to ban the burqa.

The vote in the Chamber of Deputies was 136 in favor, none opposed and two abstentions, according to Dominiq van Dendossche, a press officer for the Belgian parliament.

Human rights group Amnesty International immediately condemned the vote.

Members of parliament have said they're motivated both by security and morality in pushing for the ban.

"We think all people in public places must show their face," Denis Ducarme, of the liberal Reformist Movement, said earlier this month. "We must defend our values in the question of the freedom and the dignity of the woman."

Ducarme said it's not true that Islam requires women to wear burqas, which cover the whole body and face, or niqabs, veils that cover most of the face except for a small slit for the eyes.

"The majority of Muslims in Belgium and Europe don't accept the burqa, don't accept the niqab. It's only 10 percent who are radical," he said, blaming trends from Pakistan and Afghanistan for encouraging facial covering.

He estimated that 300 to 400 women in the country wear the niqab or the burqa.

Belgium may have more than half a million Muslims among its population of 10.5 million, researchers estimate.

Abdullah Bastin, a Muslim political leader in Belgium, warned earlier this month that the legislation could actually encourage more women to adopt the veil.

The bill would impose a fine of 15-25 euros ($20-33) or imprisonment of one to seven days for those who break the law.

Belgium is home to about 281,000 Muslims, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life estimates. That would make the country about 3 percent Muslim.

Abdullah Bastin, a Muslim political leader in Belgium, warned earlier this month that the legislation could actually encourage more women to adopt the veil.

One town in Belgium banned the burqa six years ago.

Jan Creemers, the mayor of the tiny picture-postcard city of Maaseik, said it was no problem to enforce the ban, and that he had the support of the local Moroccan community.

Some fines were handed out, and although none was paid, no one wears a veil in Maaseik today, he said.